Playing Baldur’s Gate 3 reminded me how much I enjoy tactical RPGs, and while the turn-based format is always welcome, I still miss the style of real-time action where you can pause at any time to direct each member of your party. GreedFall 2 With the release date fast approaching, I tried out some early bits of the game at Gamescom 2024 and for a second I felt like I was transported back in time to Dragon Age: Origins 15 years ago. BioWare has given us a powerful reminder of just how much fun this classic style CRPG can be.
Greedfall 2’s Early Access launch is just a few weeks away, meaning you can get your hands on the sequel fantasy RPG very soon. It’s also worth noting that since the Gamescom demo, Spiders has announced a new contract with employees that includes an increase in minimum wage and an audit of working conditions, following an open letter from multiple employees alleging poor management, lack of direction, and developer burnout at the studio.
Though it’s a sequel, Greedfall 2 takes place three years earlier, telling the story of a native of Teer Fradee. Captured by foreign invaders and brought to the old continent of Gacane, you must navigate the land as an outsider, facing opposing forces across it as it falls apart. Luckily, you’re not alone – there are like-minded allies at your side.
As mentioned above, the sequence I was able to play was fairly early on, a little after the introductory sequence in which the group escapes from captivity. This means that I don’t get to see full character customization, but I can set my character’s stats and choose the party members that best complement my chosen skills. Though I have full control over my party’s gear, they’re still very independent and the choices I make will determine whether they move closer to you or against your ideals.
If you’ve played previous games in the series, you’ll have some idea of what’s going to happen when combat begins, but Greedfall 2’s combat feels a lot closer to the classic brand of old-school BioWare RPGs that I love, like Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins. You can play in real time, but you can also pause the action as much as you like and manually command your selected character, or each member of your party, on their next action.
For me, this short playtime was a painful prospect, because it was clear that there was a lot of depth to the mechanics to dig into, and my intuition was that I wanted to carefully read all the available abilities and carefully study the optimal moves. Limited access forced me to give up on this and simply ignore caution, but still, I was able to quickly adapt my strategy on the fly. Luckily, these early enemies didn’t resist too hard anyway.
Most characters have both health and armor, and abilities are usually specialized in one or the other. You might choose to take it easy by intentionally destroying enemy armor, or focus on skills that allow you to circumvent armor. Those who like to test their strategic skills can up the challenge to a more tactically demanding difficulty level. Conversely, those who aren’t as good at it can switch to story mode, which makes them essentially invincible during combat.
While exploring, I come across a camp that seems to have been visited by the person I’m looking for. If I succeed at an ability check based on the Survival skill, a visual indication of footprints to follow will pop up, but failing this doesn’t mean I’m completely locked out; if I have a keen eye I can still spot the footprints, but they won’t be clearly visible.
When we find a target held captive by a band of thieves, we are presented with a number of ways to approach, which vary depending on the members of our party. Some of our allies have special knowledge, talents, or connections that can open doors for us. Some are skilled diplomats who can navigate or even get out of most situations if necessary. The easiest solution is to fight the troublemakers directly, but we choose to negotiate with them instead. Finding a valuable treasure to trade will earn us our friend’s freedom.
Each companion has their own quest line and goals to pursue, and you need to keep them happy, otherwise they’ll decide it’s not worth sticking around for them. Sometimes the situation can get even more dire – for example, one companion is being chased by a hitman, and if you don’t resolve it quickly, they’ll end up dead, and you’ll lose a powerful companion (and probably be pretty sad).
Greedfall 2 will launch on Steam Early Access on Tuesday, September 24th. Spiders says they want to use Early Access to “develop the game with the community, with the help of the players themselves, and make balancing adjustments and adding features.” This is expected to take at least a year, but ultimately depends on whether the developers and players are satisfied with it. If you want to learn more, you can add it to your wishlist on Steam now.
There are even more big PC games scheduled to be released in 2024, so join us in anticipating all the upcoming titles. Or, if you’d prefer to try some games you can play now, you’ll find plenty to choose from in our list of the best turn-based RPGs.
